Technical support was seen at $1.0315, a 200-DMA and a lower Bollinger band, with resistance at $US1.0400.The next flash point for the dollar is third-quarter business investments data due next week. Forecasts are for a 2 per cent gain, following an already solid rise of 3.4 per cent the previous quarter.

"Any hint of weakness will put a December interest cut on the cards for the Reserve Bank," said David Scutt, a trader at Arab Bank Australia.

4.18pm: Among the sectors, gold miners slipped 0.6 per cent, health dropped 0.3 per cent and materials lost 0.1 per cent. Consumer discretionary added 0.2 per cent while financials and consumer staples both inched up 0.1 per cent.

4.12pm: The market has finished relatively flat, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 0.1 points, to 4413, while the broader All Ords slipped 0.9 points to 4431.5.

3.51pm: A proposed tax cut by China for its iron ore miners could lead to lower prices of the raw material, but it is unlikely to reduce imports by the world's top buyer as it does little to improve the competitiveness of domestic producers.

China may also face strong opposition to the plan to drop the total tax rate for local iron ore miners to 10-15 per cent from 25 per cent because of the potential revenue loss for local governments, industry officials and analysts say.

China is the world's biggest producer of the raw material, with an annual output of more than 1 billion tonnes. But the low quality of its iron ore means it relies heavily on imports.

It buys about two-thirds of globally traded iron ore, with this year's imports of the steelmaking raw material expected to top last year's record 686 million tonnes.

3.43pm:Nissan expects its November China sales to be around 45,000 cars, down about 25 per cent from a year earlier, a senior executive said today.

Sales are recovering following a big plunge in September and October, but it was too early to tell when the impact will completely fade out, Hideki Kimata, senior general manager of Nissan's passenger-car sales unit jointly run with its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor, told reporters during a press tour in Dongguan, near Guangzhou in southeastern China.

Nissan had previous hoped to sell one million vehicles in China this year but had revised the target after China consumers started to shun Japanese cars amid a territorial row between the countries since mid-September.

3.32pm: Miss all the action this past week? Let Michael Pascoe bring you up to speed.

Please switch off auto-refresh at the top of the page to view this video.

3.20pm: After his last shareholder meeting as chairman of David Jones, Bob Savage opened up on some of the more controversial issues that dogged his near-decade long run in the job.

Top of the list, of course, was the sexual harassment scandal that lead to the departure of David Jones chief executive Mark McInnes.

‘‘That was a very difficult time for the company, it put everybody in the organisation under stress, people on the shop floor wanted to talk to me about it, customers wanted to talk about it, (and) shareholders,’’ he said.

‘‘I think we did the right things, the only regret I would have is that it was not able to be handled outside of the public arena, but that wasn’t our choice,’’ Mr Savage told reporters after the AGM.

3.11pm: Australia’s four largest lenders are split on whether the RBA will resume cutting interest rates next month to prevent an economic slowdown from boosting unemployment, a survey of economists showed.

Westpac and ANZ predict the Reserve Bank will reduce the overnight cash rate target a quarter percentage-point to 3 per cent on December 4. CBA and NAB forecast no change.

Australia’s monetary authority lowered the benchmark five times since November 1, 2011, to help extend a 21-year run without a recession. While RBA Governor Glenn Stevens left it unchanged at 3.25 per cent on November 6, citing a more stable global outlook, he signalled this week that rate cuts are still an option.

3.02pm: While Fairfax, publisher of this website, is performing well today, it has still be a rough year with shares hitting a record low last month.

2.44pm: Ever dreamed of starting an online business that will just sweep the cyberspace? Be warned - turning a web page into commercial success can take longer than anticipated, writes Miriam Steffens.

2.30pm: SABMiller, the world's second-biggest brewer and the owner of Foster's says its share of the Australian market may not rise until 2014 after posting a 17 per cent surge in first-half earnings on gains in Latin America and Africa.

‘‘It’s been a long time in its steady decline. So it’ll take a long time to build back.’’ Market share will level off in the year through March 2014 and start to recover after that, Mr Clark said.

The maker of Grolsch, Miller Lite and Peroni said adjusted pretax profit rose to $US2.76 billion ($A2.66 billion) in the six months to September on sales up 11 per cent to $17.5 billion, helped by its acquisition of Foster's.

2.13pm: ANZ boss Mike Smith has been speaking in Melbourne this afternoon and has said that Australian banks will need a small capital increase to meet Basel III global banking regulations but should easily be able to meet the requirments.

1.54pm: Scott Philips from the Motley Fool has been looking at AGM season, and he’s seeing a virulent outbreak of ‘‘tall poppy syndrome’’.

The AGM has become guerrilla marketing for lobby groups and their causes. Even when there's literally no chance of a resolution being passed, just putting the motion to the company's shareholders is enough to garner media attention for the cause. More so if the company is large or widely held by retail investors.

1.27pm: A quick look ahead to next week from the CBA. Analysts there note the following items on the local news agenda:

The key Australian economic number is the QIII private new capex. Any weaker than expected capex result and/or any sharp winding back of future capital spending plans would help pave the way for another near term RBA 0.25% rate cut.

Among other local data releases this week will be the maiden release of the preliminary QIII balance of payments (goods and services component) which will give markets an early estimation of the likely net export contribution to QIII GDP.

1.06pm: Here are a few more comments from the DJs AGM today. Outgoing chairman Bob Savage says:

"We need an equal playing field - GST should be applied to all goods from outside Australia. Consumers should note that many online international prices do not gross up their retail prices for taxes.

"After Tuesday's announcement on last quarter sales, sales this quarter are running at the same rate. It is too early to call out profit and sales as most of our business is done at Christmas and Easter."

CFO Brad Soller says:

"Finance costs are up due to renegotiation of long term debt with higher interest rates and the amortisation of upfront fees."

12.55pm: RBS Morgans equities director Bill Chatterton said the market was drifting in directionless trade on Friday, given Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving day public holiday.

‘‘There’s not a whole lot of activity out there,’’ Mr Chatterton said.

‘‘There’s really no great excitement. It is a bit of a non-event day to be absolutely honest.’’

The local market opened about 0.1 per cent lower and moved further into negative territory during the morning.

12.51pm: For the cricket tragics - Australia all out for 550. Michae Clarke made 230, adding just 6 to his overnight score. South Africa 0/2 after two overs. No word yet on where in the batting order the injured Jaques Kallis will bat. Make that SA - 0/3 at lunch.

12.40pm: More from the David Jones AGM, where shareholders have been complaining about poor customer service, with some linking it with the drop in the company’s profits.

‘‘I suggest your profitability is down due to a total and utter lack of customer service in your shops,’’ shareholder Kevin Hughes told the meeting.

Chairman Bob Savage said the company had recently increased staff numbers after realising they had cut back too much.

‘‘We manage our customer service in relation to the volume of sales we expect at any one time,’’ he said.

DJs shares are down 1.6 per cent today at $2.40.

12.37pm: The dollar is poised for a gain this week on the back of a global stock rally which has raised the demand for riskier assets. The dollar bought $US1.0386 in recent trade from $US1.0390 yesterday and $US1.0339 at the end of last week.

The currency fell as low as $US1.0288 on November 16.

“There is some possible momentum building for maybe a shift back towards $US1.05 given the way the Aussie rejected that move below $US1.03,” said Jim Vrondas, a manager at online foreign-exchange dealer OzForex Ltd. in Sydney.

It could rise above $US1.0420 early next week, he said.

12.28pm: Former Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope has been named chairman of Australia Post.

He has been appointed to the position for four years, communications minister Stephen Conroy said.

Mr Stanhope's appointment is interesting given that he was lined up against the government and its National Broadband Company in the negotiations over Telstra's participation in the broadband network - negotiations Telstra is now considered to have driven successfully.

12.22pm: Mining services company Ausdrill has plunged 8.9 per cent to its lowest price since December 2010, after it said its full-year revenue was expected to decline by $50 million with a number of one-off costs.

Shares are down 22 cents at $2.24.

12.13pm: A couple of hours into the day’s trade and shares are still struggling to consolidate their return above 4400 points. The market, analysts say, is lacking drivers with US markets closed for Thanksgiving.

In recent trade the All Ordinaries index is 9.0 points lower, or 0.2 per cent, to 4423.4, while the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 7.9 points lower, or 0.2 per cent, to 4405.2.

The index has also dragged been down by miners and energy stocks, with BHP Billiton down 0.2 percent and Fortescue falling 2.4 per cent.

‘‘Because we’ve seen some good gains in the sector, I suspect profit taking will probably be a dominant factor at play in the market today,’’ said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.

12.06pm: More on Cabcharge, which has seen its shares slump today, continuing a slide that began yesterday afternoon.

The shares have dropped from $4.31 to a low earlier today of $3.57. They're at $3.68 now, down 6.1 per cent.

Economics Correspondent Peter Martin explains the impending changes to Cabcharge revenue that have sparked the collapse:

The detested 10 per cent surcharge whacked on taxi fares for the privilege of paying by a card won’t survive the new year if the Reserve Bank gets its way. The Bank this week tightened the wording of surcharging rules due to start next year, making explicit for the first time that they apply to “the taxi industry”. Cabcharge typically imposes a 10 per cent surcharge on the metered fare, flagfall, booking fee, on any tolls.

11.44am: A former Leightons finance manager has pleaded guilty to stealing $20 million from the construction and infrastructure companies.

Damian Victor O’Carrigan, 58, of Moggill in Brisbane’s west, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court this morning to two counts of aggravated fraud as an employee and one count of fraudulently falsifying a document.

O’Carrigan took the money from Leightons Contractors over a 13-year period beginning in late 1999.

11.31am: Some sad news, legendary author of The Power of One Bryce Courtenay has died at the age of 79, after losing his battle with stomach cancer.

He passed away surrounded by his family in Canberra last night.

11.25am: It's been a bad month for hybrids, and an even worse one for hybrid investors, writes Intelligent Investor's Richard Livingston.

On November 2, Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced it was reviewing the equity classification of corporate hybrids issued by the likes of Origin, Tabcorp and AGL over the past year.

This would bring an end to the "100 per cent equity credit" currently given by S&P when reviewing the issuer's credit rating – a key reason for the hybrids being issued in the first place.

Then, on November 9, Bank of Queensland (BoQ) dispelled the popular notion that banks would redeem hybrids at the first opportunity (and against their economic interests), to protect their reputations.

11.15am: Residential developer AVJennings is seeing some signs of improvement in the property market after a difficult year.

Managing director Peter Summers says ‘‘green shoots’’ appeared to be emerging in the affordable housing sector, supported by unemployment and interest rates at low levels and Australia’s economic growth relatively high compared to other countries.

AVJennings slumped to a $29.8 million net loss in 2011-12, as it battled weak global economic conditions, jitters over the unfolding turmoil in Europe, the high Australian dollar and the impact of natural disasters.

10.51am: The AFR reports that the former head of Westpac’s retail and business bank could become the new CEO at Stockland. The AFR says Rob Coombe, who spent 20 years at Westpac, would fit the serach criteria, which ‘‘would look beyond property, and particularly to the finance sector’’.

The AFR also said: ‘‘Another candidate for the job is the former head of product development for UBS Global Asset Management, Mark Steinert.’’ Full story.

10.45am: IG Markets market strategist Stan Shamu said the Australian share market open had been a subdued.

‘‘With the US market closed for that Thanksgiving holiday, there’s not many leads out there to work off,’’ Mr Shamu said.

‘‘Europe was firmer, but, basically, it was catch-up from yesterday’s Asian session, so that really doesn’t make too much of a difference for us locally.’’

Mr Shamu said the resources and energy sectors were leading the market downwards.

10.41am: Not much action among the big miners:

BHP is 0.21% lower to $33.62

Rio is 0.04% higher to $57.10

Fortescue is flat at $3.80

10.37am: The big banks are either flat or lower in a weak market:

CBA is 0.22% higher to $58.80

ANZ is 0.04% lower to $23.73

NAB is flat at $23.64

Westpac is 0.44% lower to $24.72

10.30am: Looking now at the early gainers on the ASX200:

Lynas: +4.44%

Goodman Fielder: +3.7%

Acrux: +3.18%

Challenger: +2.46%

FKP Property: +2.44%

Fairfax: +2.44%

Reject Shop: +1.72%

10.27am: Recent interest rate cuts have yet to work their magic on consumers and get them spending again, David Jones’ outgoing chairman Bob Savage says.

Addressing shareholders during his final annual general meeting as chairman, Mr Savage said the high Australian dollar, uncertainty in Europe and the United States and volatility on equity markets were hampering trading conditions in Australia.

‘‘The past year has been a difficult environment for retailers,’’ he told shareholders. ‘‘Consumer sentiment remains subdued despite interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia.’’

Mr Savage surprised investors late with news that he was resigning from the retailer’s board.

The annual meeting comes just two days after David Jones reported sales revenue rose a slender 0.3 per cent to $415.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013.

10.22am: Joining Cabcharge among the major sliders on the ASX200 so far today:

Ausdrill: -9.35%

Coalspur: -4.15%

St Barbara: -3.90%

Aquila: -3.83%

Evolution Mining: -3.05%

VIrgin: -2.2%

10.19am: Sector by sector on the ASX200, all are down:

Info tech stocks: -1.52%

Telecom: -0.46%

Industrials: -0.45%

Energy: -0.43%

Health: -0.42%

Consumer staples: -0.19%

10.13am: The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 4.8 points, or 0.11 per cent, lower at 4,408.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was five points, or 0.11 per cent, weaker at 4,427.4.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was three points lower at 4,420 with 2,816 contracts traded.

10.12am: Shares in Cabcharge are down sharply at the open as talk of removing the 10 per cent service charge from its servcie intensifies. They've lost 5.9 per cent in early trade to $3.69, down from $5.92 at the start of November. More on this as it comes to hand.

10.06am: Early take - Stocks are flat. The ASX200 is down less than 2 points as markets open.

She said Friday’s local session was likely to remain quiet as well, but with a slight downward bias due to positive sentiment from the Chinese data.

‘‘There isn’t much out in the way of data today, so, once we find out the range, I think we will probably sit there,’’ she said.

Ms Auld said the current move away from bond futures towards higher risk assets was likely to continue in the final weeks of 2012.

‘‘I think, maybe, this move will gather a bit more momentum as we head into year-end because I don’t think people are really positioned for it.’’

At 8.3am the December 10-year bond futures contract was at 96.820 (implying a yield of 3.180 per cent), down from 96.830 (3.170 per cent), on Thursday. The December three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.310 (2.690 per cent), down from 97.320 (2.680 per cent).

9.42am: The Australian dollar is virtually unchanged following a quiet overnight session. At 7am AEDT on Friday, the currency was trading at $US1.0387, above its level of $US1.0352 late yesterday.

Westpac New Zealand senior market strategist Imre Speizer said, with US markets closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the currency traded in a tight range of between $US1.0355 and $US1.0394 overnight.

‘‘Last night, it didn’t really do anything. It went down, it went up. But, unchanged was the net result,’’ he said.

Mr Speizer said Friday was likely to be a quiet day on currency markets with no major economic data releases scheduled either in Australia or overseas and many US traders still on holiday.

9.39am: On a quiet day for local news, the David Jones annual general meeting is about the most interesting thing in prospect. It kicks off at 10am. Here are some analyst rating changes from late yesterday:

Ausdrill cut to neutral at CIMB

Reject Shop cut to neutral at Nomura

Ramsay Health Care raised to overweight at Morgan Stanley

Cardno Ltd rated new hold at Deutsche Bank

9.36am:Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday but European traders welcomed strong Chinese manufacturing data and an Israel-Gaza truce, while a Greek bailout deal was put on hold ahead of an EU summit. The result is a fairly soft lead higher for the ASX.

For a comprehensive look at this morning’s business news, check today’s need2know. Here are this morning’s key market links:

The SPI was 4 points higher at 4427

The $A was trading at $US1.0385

Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday

In Europe, the FTSE100 added 0.68% to 5791.03

China iron ore lost $US1.90 to $US118.70 a metric tonne

Gold lost 91 US cents to $US1729.55 an ounce

WTI crude oil lost 29 US cents to $US87.09 a barrel

RJ/CRB commodities index added 0.36% to 297.59

9.34am: Hi everyone. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Friday.

Contributors: Thomas Hunter, Jens Meyer, Richard Hughes

This blog is not intended as investment advice

BusinessDay with agencies

39 comments

Are we going to do a guess this week on where the ASX 200 index will finish? If so my guess is 4405

Commenter

Seriously...

Location

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 7:29AM

On past form the suits and kids that run the funds here can not sleep if they hold open or high positions over a weekend. The blue blankets dont seem to work for them any more. I expect a sell off at 3:45 and a close of around 4390

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

State of thievery (Victoria)

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 7:50AM

Can you please point me to the proof that reducing pokies to $1 bets will reduce the harm done to problem gamblers? Disclosure: I'm not a shareholder of woolworths, just someone who is sick and tired of Australia's nanny state policies.- Nanny State November 22, 2012, 5:01PM

Common sense would indicate that slowing the losses of a problem gambler will reduce the harm. They'll have more money left in their pockets. The increased harm is that slimeball hotel owners can't bleed people dry on machines that are designed to lose.

Why is the current max bet $10/spin ? Must be that damn nanny state again...it should be $1000/spin!

Personally I'm sick and tired of people who bleat "nanny state" all the time. How are you personally impacted by $1/spin max bets? How much will your quality of life be reduced?

Gee you do have SOL as my dear Mum says. Did you put on a bender last night?As a former poker machine cheat let me tell you that the slimeballs that run these theivingmachines scream like wounded pigs when you put the odds in your favour and remove theirill-gotten gains.

Commenter

pest from the west

Location

Lowood

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 7:28AM

Mr Slimeballs, we are indeed the nanny state but the examples you give are a bit extreme. But its our own fault of course - i bet we suck up the Brumby/Bracks desal water bill without a murmer, and the Gillard electricity bills. In europe there would be civil unrest, they wouldl be marching in the streets at the least and burning cars at the worst. Here with the aid of a compliant Fairfax and Age we just shrug all insult and thievery off. We are little more than what Orwell predicited, brainwashed zombies just waiting to die.I for one will not hesitate to give Brumby or Bracks a good thrashing if i ever meet them.

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

State of thievery (Victoria)

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 7:47AM

It's a Nanny State because the Government takes on responsibility for way too much of the stupidity of the citizens in this country. The moral hazard for many things in this country has been taken away because these same people believe that anything in their lives that is "wrong" or "bad" must be the fault of the government. Because of this, moral standards and personal responsibility have whittled over the last twenty years.The government (state/federal) have enabled this and a decrease in quality of life in a number of ways, directly due to their dumb policies (e.g. using poker machines as a cash cow), wanting to "do a good turn" by people (e.g. baby bonus), and by things such as the socialization of medicine - people are under the belief that medicine is free and the state has a responsibility to provide them free medical treatment (training doctors costs a lot of money, as does running a hospital).

It is a nanny state. Get rid of large chunks of government, give the tax dollars back to the punters and allow them to use their income however they see fit. If people make bad/stupid decisions it is up to them to wear the costs. The only thing taxation accomplishes is to increase the bureaucracy, increase corruption, increase waste, and decrease the quality of life of citizens. Suggesting that gun control, food/water standards etc. wouldn't have come about without government is fallacy. If a customer wants seat-belts in cars, or an increasing number of customers want seat-belts then they vote with their wallets. The companies that provide seat-belts get paid, those that don't change lose business.

We need less socialism, less bureaucracy and less central planning.

Commenter

Bye Bye Fiat Money

Location

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 7:50AM

Rubbish. Poker machines are legalised theft.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 8:46AM

@ AllanThe government gets cash via the "license". Hence why getting rid of the pokies is an issue because the dumbo's in the government will have to buy back the license's from the pub/club owners, or let them expire and not offer to renew said licenses because the politicians realize that the pokies actually are more of a burden on society than the upfront cash grab they represent.